which reset button works for you?

this week i did my third 3-day juice cleanse.  i raved about it the first time around, daydreamed about cheese the second time, and this time i spent the 72 hours crafting a list of all of the things i would eat when i was done.  i even ate avocado at midnight on the last night because i was jittery and nauseous.  i get that it might be a good reset for your body, but i've decided that i no longer need to reset my body in that way.  i like food too much, and i don't know that NOT eating solid food for three days is the best thing ever.  especially when i almost lunged at a 9 year old because she smelled like cool ranch doritos. as summer vacation approaches, i am going to "reset" my body by replacing lunch or dinner 3 times a week with healthy salads, and breakfast 3 days a week with a smoothie.  i will reset by being physically active every day and keeping to a schedule.  and i will reset myself by not feeling bad if i want to eat a handful of white cheddar cheese-its as a snack.  ok, two handfuls.

oh get cleansed

i basically had a stomach ache for the entire month between thanksgiving and christmas.  holiday parties, birthdays, drinks with friends "before the new year" (which always ended with me eating pizza for dinner)...there was no end to my consumption.  i decided that in the new year i would get back to tracking with weight watchers, use couch to 5k to get into jogging, and do a juice cleanse.  the juice cleanse was less about weight loss and more about resetting my system.  i was also very nervous about it because 1) i couldn't imagine not eating for 3 days and 2) i don't really like juice.

 

i decided to order the blueprint cleanse because a blogger i follow did it, they had a "beginner" level, and they have really fantastic and attractive marketing.  

blueprint recommends preparing for three days by cutting out meat, dairy, caffeine and alcohol.  i had cut coffee out of my diet in october after some serious caffeine withdrawal headaches, and i had been doing weight watchers since the beginning of the month, so i was already in pretty good shape as far as restraint was concerned.  

day 1

i had my hot lemon water and was basically procrastinating that first green juice.  it seemed like a really intense way to start my cleanse!  i would have preferred to start with the pineapple-apple-mint or the spicy lemonade.  the green juice was not as scary as i thought.  it definitely had an intense after taste so i will admit to not breathing through my nose as i drank. the rest of the juices were decent.  the pineapple-apple-mint was a little too sweet, i really liked the lemonade, the apple-carrot-beet was on par with the green juice, and the cashew was kind of chalky.  i didn't quite finish this juice because i had taken it to the movies (in my cooler bag!) but it tasted kind of gross when it was no longer cold.  i wasn't hungry at all and experienced none of the side effects listed.  i took a VERY long nap in the afternoon but i think that fatigue was based more on being tired from my work week, not from the juice. 

day 2

this is the day i was most nervous about.  from the reviews i had read, it sounded like most people were excited for day 1 so they didn't feel hungry or cranky, but that day 2 was really difficult because they wanted real food.  for me, day 2 was no different than day 1 except i actually liked all of the juices more.  i'm convinced that the reason i have been side-effect free is because i gave up coffee so long ago.  i think i would be a mess right now had i tried to give up caffeine 4 days ago.  i also think the veggies/fruit only prep helped me because, honestly, i was hungrier then than i have been on the cleanse.  tomorrow will be my last cleanse day, but my first day at work while on the cleanse. 

day 3

this was my only day at work while cleansing.  the green juice, while not horrible while lounging in my pajamas watching west wing on netflix on sunday morning was very difficult to face at 6:00 in the morning.  because i stand and talk all day at work, it was harder to hydrate i felt a little lightheaded a few times.  by the time i was down to my last two juices i had really come to enjoy the red juice and i decided that i didn't really like the cashew milk as much as everyone else did.  i appreciated that it made me feel more "full" than the other juices, but my preference was for the more refreshing juices.

overall it was a positive experience and i'm thinking about doing another one before summer starts.  i've lost some weight and i definitely feel lighter and smaller.